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Friday, January 19, 2007

P G Kamath On His Way Out From Lexmark

P G Kamath, general manager, Lexmark India has put in his papers ending about five years association with the printing solutions vendor.

"I have resigned from Lexmark after a good and challenging stint. I now look forward for good opportunities," Kamath told ChannelTimes adding that his association with Lexmark will come to an end in March 2007.

Market sources also indicated that a Bangalore based national distributor could be roped in as the vendor's import partner and Lexmark could perhaps end up adopting the offshore business model.

However, making it clear that he is opting out from the company on extremely good terms, Kamath said that his exit will have no adverse impact on the channel front in India.

"The channel need not panic as Lexmark business will continue," said Kamath, who took over the charge of Indian operations of Lexmark when the company was passing through tough times.

The resignation has fuelled speclations among Lexmark partners as the vendor had made desperate attempts to revive its sagging business and Kamath himself had played a pivotal role in entering into regional distribution model.

"Lexmark will realign its business model," Kamath said.

Pradeep G Kamath better known amongst his peers as PG, who brought the flavour of his stint with distribution major Ingram, is also respected as a seasoned channel watcher. As vice president Marketing at Ingram Micro, Kamath is also credited for spearheading marketing initiatives.

As part of Kamath's revival plans for the printing solutions vendor, the company had roped in Champion Computers for the North, Galaxy Computech for the East, Dikibi Enterprises of Pune for Maharashtra, Madras Computech in Tamil Nadu and Netlink Infocomm in Gujarat as regional distributors giving them the mandate to cater to the respective regions exclusively.

Kamath calling it a day at Lexmark on one hand could dampen the channel in pursuing their business with Lexmark products, market sources also suggested that the vendor will enlist the services of " a master importer who will distribute Lexmark printers to Indian channel".

Following this move, another assumption that is gaining credence in the market is that possibly the entire distribution network of the company including the key distributor could also be recast.